“2017 IS SATISFACTORY, BUT NOT A WINNING YEAR FOR ITALIAN WINE. THE DOMESTIC MARKET DID WELL, BUT EXPORTS SUFFER THE COMPETITION. IN 2018 WE NEED A NEW QUALITY LEAP”, ERNESTO ABBONA, PRESIDENT OF ITALIAN UNION WINES, TOLD “WINE IN FIGURES 2018”

“Satisfactory, but not winning is how I would define Italian wine numbers in 2017, detailed in "Vino in Cifre 2018", the yearly publication of Corriere Vinicolo, published by Unione Italiana Vini in partnership with the Wine Observatory. The data suggest a complex year for the sector that found a great boost on the domestic market, as the recovery of consumption confirmed during the Christmas holidays, but has suffered in competitiveness on the export front, where we have been slowed by a bureaucratic and administrative system that caused us the loss of leadership in the US. 2018 is therefore a new challenge, which we welcome for a new leap in quality in our sector”. These are the comments of Ernesto Abbona, president of Unione Italiana Vini, on the numbers of the national wine sector, detailed by the statistical data elaborated by Corriere Vinicolo in edition number 8 of the “Wine in Figures 2018” yearly publication (https://goo.gl/Ds1eLW), which is also an opportunity to reflect on the state of the sector.
“The effects of the scarce production in 2017 are being felt on the price front, giving potentially negative repercussions on international markets”, added Paolo Castelletti, general secretary UIV, “the sector is however witnessing a reawakening of the production phase; there are requests for new plants which help compensate for the structural erosion of surfaces. As a matter of fact, even though the authorization system presented various problems in the first years it was applied, we finally have an "Italian vineyard" stabilizing around 640.000 hectares. This fact gives us hope for the future, especially if the corrections we have requested from the Ministry will be implemented in the 2018 call, allowing companies to obtain the surfaces needed to carry out their projects”.
“The securing of potential in the vineyard must however be defended by focusing on better sales quality”, explained Ernesto Abbona. We can be satisfied with the performance of the sparkling wine sector, because in September in Great Britain, for the first time we surpassed the French also in terms of value, to 179 million pounds (+24%), as well as the performances of bottled Italian wines in China and Russia. There is much to be done, instead, to return to being a leader in strategic markets such as the US, where we are suffering the return of French wines and the success of New Zealand wines. It is therefore important”, concluded President Abbona, “to return to investing as a Country System in Italian wine, having the support of the Institutions in synergy, and to reflect as a united chain, implementing long-term strategies that enhance everyone involved”.

Focus – Wine in numbers 2018. Numbers in a nutshell
Wine consumption in the world: 281 million hectoliters out of total alcohol 2.5 billion (11%)
Number one country for consumption of reds: China (16 million hectoliters)
Number one country for consumption of whites: the USA (13 million hectoliters)
Number one country for sparkling wine consumption: Germany (3 million hectoliters)
Number one exporter of sparkling wines: France (3.2 billion US dollars).
But Italy has the highest growth rates: + 13%
Number one supplier of bottled wines to the EU: Chile (1.6 million hectoliters)
The largest viticulture region in Italy. Sicily: 99.000 hectares out of a total 646.000
The Region that has grown the most in the last 15 years: Veneto: 87.000 hectares (+13.200)
The surface of the organic vineyard in Italy: 104.000 hectares, 16% of the total, of which 39.000 in Sicily
The variety most produced in 2017: Glera (19 million rooted cuttings)
Number of PDO wine bottles produced in 2016: 1.1 billion
The most bottled PDO: Prosecco DOC (410 million bottles in 2016)
The weight of the first 5 PDOs on the total bottled denomination of origin. 44% (Prosecco DOC, Chianti, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Prosecco Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Asti / Moscato)
Top 5 Italian bottled still wines: USA, Germany, UK, Canada, Switzerland
Top 5 sparkling destinations: UK, USA, Germany, Switzerland, France
Top 5 semi-sparkling destinations: Germany, USA, Austria, Mexico, UK
Top 3 bag-in-box wines destinations: Sweden, Norway, UK
The value share of Prosecco on Italian exports: 60% on total sparkling wines, 13% on total exports of the country (September 2017, 550 million euros)
Number one supplier of bottled and sparkling wines to Italy: France, average price 21 euros / liter sparkling wine, 4.90 bottled wines
Number one bulk wine supplier to Italy: Spain, average price 0.39 euros / liter
Per capita wine consumption in Italy: 36 liters (31 beer)
Share of wine consumers of the total population: 52% (28 million people)
Daily consumers: 13 million versus 15 occasional
Annual wine expenditure of Italian families: 4 billion euros